Fungal disease_Favus

Ferdinand Bol
June 24, 1616, Dordrecht - August 24, 1680, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Ferdinand Bol studeerde in Rembrandts studio omstreeks 1635. De meester beïnvloedde de jonge kunstenaar sterk.

♦ The Regents of the Leper Hospital in Amsterdam (1649) ♦

The doctors are wearing the typical attire of doctors from that era. Before they were admitted to the hospital and banished from society, candidates had to appear before a council of physicians. Here, a father requests that his son be admitted due to a silvery skin disease.

♦ Diagnosis
Main symptoms: Thick greyish-white, mortar-like crust on the skull.
Secondary symptoms: Boy, poor family?
Clinical diagnosis: Favus

♦ Definition: favus (headache)
Scalp sores are also known as favus (honeycomb) or calloused scalp. It is a skin disease caused by a fungus and is highly contagious.
Crania capitis falls under the category of scalp fungi, which are primarily seen in children.
The causative agent is Trichophyton schoenleini, T. violaceum, or Microsporum gypseum.
The disease is characterized by the presence of a round, sulfur-yellow, cup-shaped crust with a characteristic mouse-like odor.

♦ Discussion
Favus is a fungal disease of the scalp, occurring in pre-pubertal children. It causes bald patches and atrophy, so that hair does not grow back in those areas, while a typical mouse-like odor is observed.
The fungus forms small yellow, saucer-shaped, confluent crusts that give the impression of a honeycomb. Removal of all hair is necessary for healing, which can be done in various ways.
This fungal disease is rare due to improved hygienic conditions.
The term Lepra Favosa refers to the fact that children with favus were isolated in leprosariums.

Favus was the first disease for which a fungus was discovered by J.L. Schönlein in 1839. The discovery was published in a short note of twenty lines in the Millers Archive of that year (p. 82).

Lack of personal hygiene is an almost necessary factor for the development of favus, but anyone with poor health can contract it.

Jan Dequeker

Jan Dequeker
The artist and the doctor look at paintings

Photos
wkipedia.org

- Francisco Goya_boys climbing a tree
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/2-boys-climbing-a-tree-francisco-goya.html?product=fleece-blanket&blanketType=blanket-coral-50-60
- Advanced favus of scalp in a Nigerian cattle herder caused by Trichophyton schoenleinii.
http://www.emedmd.com/content/fungal-infections
- bruiloft_Goya_gettyimages